What equipment are college golfers using? We polled 61 coaches to find out…

Editor Andrew Tursky and I decided to set out to better understand what brands college players are using. In order to gather statistics, we created a survey and collected the following data from coaches:

What level of golf do you coach?

Do you coach men’s or women’s golf?

What best describes your attitude towards equipment?

Is it ethical for coaches to accept money from club manufacturers?

Among the top 5 players on your team, what drivers do they play?

Among the top 5 players on your team, what irons do they play?

Among the top 5 players on your team, what wedges do they play?

Among the top 5 players on your team, what putter do that play?

Among the top 5 players on your team, what golf ball do they play?

The survey was created using Survey Monkey and then placed on my business Facebook account. The survey was completely optional. In 48 hours, 61 college coaches responded to the survey. Of them, 78.6 percent of them coach Division I, 8.2 percent of them coach Division II, and 13.1 percent coach either DIII, NAIA or NJCAA. Of the respondents, 77 percent coach men’s golf, while 23 percent of the respondents coach women’s golf.

Of the respondents, 64 percent believe it was ethical for coaches to accept money from club manufacturers, 99 percent believe that players should play whatever they want, and 87 percent preferred that the product should be fit properly. Only 1 percent (one respondent), suggested that they try to influence players and their equipment decisions.

In terms of different equipment played by the top 5 players at these schools, here’s what we found out…

Drivers

10 schools reported exclusively using TaylorMade

3 schools reported exclusively using Titleist

1 school reported exclusively using Ping

1 school reported exclusively using Callaway

For the other respondents, we examined the percentage of players on each team using product:

42 percent TaylorMade

23 percent Callaway

17 percent Titleist and Ping

PXG, Bridgestone and Nike combined made up 1 percent.

Irons

7 schools reported exclusively using Titleist

2 schools reported exclusively using TaylorMade

2 schools reported exclusively using Callaway

2 school reported exclusively using Ping

1 school reported using exclusively Wilson Staff

For the other respondents, we examined the percentage of players on each team using product:

30 percent Titleist

20 percent Ping

16 percent Callaway

14 percent TaylorMade

9 percent Mizuno

4 percent Srixon

3 percent PXG

Please note Miura, Cobra, Bridgestone and Nike were also mentioned, but made up less than 3 percent combined.

Wedges

12 schools reported using exclusively Titleist

2 schools reported using exclusively Callaway

1 school reports using exclusively Mizuno

1 school reported using exclusively Ping

For the other respondents, we examined the percentage of players on each team using product:

34 percent Titleist

21 percent Cleveland

18 percent Ping

16 percent Callaway

9 percent TaylorMade

2 percent rest of manufacturers

Putter

8 schools reported using exclusively Scotty Cameron

6 schools reported using exclusively Odyssey

3 schools reported using exclusively Ping

1 school reported using exclusively Bettinardi

For the other respondents, we examined the percentage of players on each team using product:

34 percent Scotty Cameron

24 percent Odyssey (including Toulon)

19 percent Taylor Made

17 percent Ping

2 percent Edel

2 percent Bettinardi

Golf Ball

32 schools reported using exclusively Titleist

3 schools reported using exclusively Bridgestone

1 school reported exclusively using TaylorMade

1 school reported using exclusively Callaway

For the other respondents, we examined the percentage of players on each team using product:

Brendan is the owner of Golf Placement Services, a boutique business which aims to apply his background in golf and higher education to help educate players, their families and coaches about the process!
Website - www.golfplacementservices.com
Insta - golf.placement.sevices
Twitter @BMRGolf

33 Comments

33 Comments

ChipN'Run

Mar 19, 2018 at 8:08 pm

Possibly of interest to the golf merchandising crowd.

But, we have no information on:
* Shaft models and flexes
* Actual models of irons and woods

Memories from the University of Maryland, mid 60’s. Our coach had an affiliation with US Royal, we were supplied with their ball for each match. They had a ” different ” dimple pattern that resembled that of a 1930’s ” mesh “‘ I don’t think anyone actually used them.

How would you like to be at that school that uses exclusively Mizuno wedges: “OK, guys, our colors are orange and blue, so we’re ALL gonna use these sweet blue Mizuno wedges, not to win tournaments, but to look cool. I don’t care if you can’t get out of a bunker with any of the grinds, just shut up and let me count my payoff cash…”

Mizuno makes some pretty darn playable wedges. If someone offered me a new set of free mizuno wedges and told me I had to play with them, I highly doubt I would be having issues getting up and down with them, especially hitting a wedge out of a bunker… I think you could hand a good golfer any wedge in the sand and see positive results… That being said, Mizuno wedges are not considered to be the pro’s choice when compared to vokey or muira.

These guys need to get paid ASAP. They are so talented and do so much for our game. This is golf in its purest form. NCAA tournaments should have $100,000 purse minimum. Take from the rich sports and give to the poor. These golfers need cash more than football and basketball players.

Am I understanding the numbers correctly? Some schools “exclusively” use specific brands for different types of clubs? How likely is it that five players from one team all use TM drivers? Five players from another school all use Titleist irons?

More recently I’ve heard of schools signing with one specific brand. But I’ve never heard of five players on any team all agreeing to use one brand of driver and another brand of irons.

… still doesn’t make it ethical. I played college golf and if my coach had told me to play anything other than what I was playing I’d be pissed. Though I did appreciate the brand new sleeve of Titleists before every match.

Well if I got a real custom fitting and free new clubs, it would be actually beneficial to my game and I’d do it. Just shoving off the rack clubs to players would definitely be unethical.

This of course comes down to the same dilemma (to a lesser extent but still exists) for college players not being paid. Like basketball, they are amateurs and don’t make money. But really they should be paid directly by the brands rather than the brands paying the schools. What does amateur status really matter? That they can play in amateur tournaments? The NCAA just needs to changes their rules to allow pro student athletes to compete. It’s pretty simple if not for the school money grab and greed.

Blade vs. Mallet putters: What the top-50 players are using (OWGR and SG: Putting)

“Blade versus mallet” is becoming more of a relevant argument over the past several years as more and more PGA Tour pros are opting for mallet putters with higher MOI (moment of inertia, a measure of forgiveness) instead of the classic Anser-style putters that most pros once employed. But, exactly how many top golfers are actually using mallets instead of blades now?

That’s what I wanted to find out. In order to do so, I simply looked up the top-50 golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and went through recent Getty Images (as close to August 9, 2018 as possible) to determine whether they’re currently using a blade or mallet putter. I then repeated the process with the current top-50 golfers in Strokes Gained: Putting as per PGA Tour’s website on August 9.

What’s the point of this? Well, each golfer is different and you should definitely get fit before making a putter purchase. But to me, it’s just interesting to see how many top golfers and great putters are using mallets compared to blade-style putters, and how any stigma surrounding mallet putters is all but gone. Heck, even Tiger Woods recently switched to a mallet-style putter.

Note: Using an Odyssey rep’s suggestion, I classified Phil’s Odyssey No. 9 putter as a “modified blade,” as well as a few other blade-style heads that have MOI-raising designs i.e. Patrick Cantlay’s Cameron Concept, Ricky Barnes’ and Anirban Lahiri’s No. 9-style heads, and Billy Horschel’s PXG. So these putters were included in the “blade” category. If you disagree with calling these modified blades, I understand.

Let’s get to the numbers.

Top 50 players in the OWGR

Mallet (22-out-of-50): 44 percent

Dustin Johnson (No. 1 in the OWGR)

Justin Thomas (No. 2)

Justin Rose (No. 3)

Jon Rahm (No. 7)

Jason Day (N0. 10)

Henrik Stenson (No. 17)

Xander Schauffele (No. 19)

Webb Simpson (No. 20)

Tyrrell Hatton (No. 25)

Kyle Stanley (No. 26)

Kevin Kisner (No. 27)

Ian Poulter (No. 31)

Kiradech Aphibarnrat (No. 32)

Brian Harman (No. 33)

Charley Hoffman (No. 35)

Branden Grace (No. 36)

Pat Perez (No. 38)

Kevin Na (No. 41)

Daniel Berger (No. 43)

Ross Fisher (No. 46)

Luke List (No. 47)

Cameron Smith (No. 49)

Blade (28-out-of-50): 56 percent

Brooks Koepka (No. 4)

Rory McIlroy (No. 5)

Francesco Molinari (No. 6)

Jordan Spieth (No. 8)

Rickie Fowler (No. 9)

Tommy Fleetwood (No. 11)

Patrick Reed (No. 12)

Alex Noren (No. 13)

Bubba Watson (No. 14)

Paul Casey (No. 15)

Hideki Matsuyama (No. 16)

Marc Leishman (No. 18)

Phil Mickelson (No. 21)

Bryson DeChambeau (No. 22)

Sergio Garcia (No. 23)

Patrick Cantlay (No. 24)

Matt Kuchar (No. 28)

Tony Finau (No. 29)

Rafa Cabrera Bello (30)

Louis Oosthuizen (No. 34)

Satoshi Kodaira (No. 37)

Matthew Fitzpatrick (No. 39)

Thorbjorn Olesen (N0. 40)

Byeong Hun An (No. 42)

Gary Woodland (No. 44)

Haotong Li (No. 45)

Si Woo Kim (No. 48)

Zach Johnson (N0. 50)

Top 50 players in SG: Putting

Mallet (28-out-of-50 players): 56 percent

Jason Day (No. 1 in SG:Putting)

Greg Chalmers (No. 3)

Daniel Summerhays (No. 5)

Webb Simpson (No. 6)

Kevin Kisner (No. 7)

Justin Rose (No. 8)

Peter Malnati (No. 9)

Beau Hossler (No. 10)

Graeme McDowell (No. 12)

Dustin Johnson (No. 14)

Seamus Power (No. 15)

Brian Harman (No. 16)

Denny McCarthy (No. 21)

Tyrrell Hatton (No. 22)

Chesson Hadley (No. 23)

Derek Fathauer (No. 26)

Ben Crane (T27)

Nicholas Lindheim (T27)

Branden Grace (No. 32)

Austin Cook (No. 33)

Brandt Snedeker (No. 35)

Aaron Wise (No. 36)

Justin Thomas (No. 37)

Brett Stegmaier (No. 39)

Tiger Woods (T44)

Patton Kizzire (No. 46)

Brandon Harkins (No. 48)

Kiradech Aphibarnrat (No. 50)

Blade (22-out-of-50 players): 44 percent

Phil Mickelson (No. 2)

Alex Noren (No. 4)

Emiliano Grillo (No. 11)

Patrick Rodgers (No. 13)

Johnson Wagner (No. 17)

Brian Gay (No. 18)

Michael Thompson (No. 19)

Whee Kim (No. 20)

Billy Horschel (No. 24)

Hunter Mahan (No. 25)

Wesley Bryan (No. 29)

Jimmy Walker (No. 30)

Bud Cauley (No. 31)

Paul Casey (No. 34)

Michael Kim (No. 38)

Matt Kuchar (No. 40)

Martin Laird (No. 41)

Dominic Bozzelli (No. 42)

Ricky Barnes (No. 43)

Anirban Lahiri (T44)

Russell Henley (No. 47)

Rickie Fowler (No. 49)

For those keeping track at home, this means that 8-of-the-top-10 in Strokes Gained: Putting are currently using mallet putters. On the flip side, 3-of-3 major champions in 2018 used blade putters to win. Again, not exactly sure what this means. But it’s interesting.